Caramelized Fruit Coconut Quinoa Porridge

Looking back, I probably should have shared this recipe before last Friday’s roundup of protein-filled breakfast recipes so it could be included. But I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal which I why I’m only just sharing this caramelized fruit coconut quinoa porridge with ya.

In my defense, I had a totally different, non-breakfast recipe planned for today. But the idea for this quinoa porridge literally slapped me in the face earlier this week and I couldn’t ignore it.

I’ve recently (and weirdly, since it’s hot as Hades) rekindled my love of oatmeal for breakfast but naturally, I ran out of oats this week and forgot to stock up. Luckily, my half-full jar of quinoa was there to save me from my own forgetfulness.

I’m no stranger to having quinoa for breakfast, nor is this my first time making quinoa porridge. But for some reason, I’ve never gotten around to sharing a quinoa porridge recipe on the blog.

Maybe it’s because my first inclination is still to have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, not quinoa porridge. Or maybe it’s because I’ve never made a quinoa breakfast bowl that was this photogenic.

Whatever the reason, I’m ridiculously happy to be finally sharing this coconut quinoa porridge with you today.

Caramelized Fruit Coconut Quinoa Porridge

This caramelized fruit coconut quinoa porridge is rich, creamy and full of delicious fruity flavour. It’s also vegan, gluten-free, naturally sweetened and filled with protein. Basically, it’s the ultimate healthy breakfast bowl. But before we move onto the actual recipe, let’s chat a little about what makes this quinoa porridge so awesome.

The quinoa: I used a mix of white and red quinoa, but feel free to use what you have on hand. Your quinoa porridge will be just as tasty and protein-filled regardless of which variety you choose.

The coconut milk: I love oatmeal because of its rich and creamy texture, but quinoa isn’t naturally creamy. So when making quinoa porridge, I like to mix in some canned coconut milk to help it along.

The sweetener: I used 1/2 a mashed banana instead of another sweetener for this recipe because I found the toppings were sweet enough. But you can adjust to taste.

The toppings: I love adding caramelized bananas to my oatmeal but I went a little crazy topped the quinoa porridge with caramelized pineapple and grapefruit as well. Mind blown. Not sure how I’ll go back to eating raw fruit after this.

Oh, and if you make this quinoa porridge, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and rate the recipe or take a pic and tag me @ExSlothon Instagram!

This caramelized fruit coconut quinoa porridge is rich, creamy and full of delicious fruity flavour. It's also vegan, gluten-free, naturally sweetened and filled with protein.

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free

Serves: 3

Ingredients

For the coconut quinoa porridge:

1½ cups cooked quinoa*

½ cup lite canned coconut milk

¼ large banana, mashed (about 2 tbsp)*

For the caramelized fruit:

1 tbsp coconut oil*

1 large banana, sliced

⅔ cup sliced pineapple

½ small grapefruit, sliced into small chunks

2 tbsp coconut sugar*

Instructions

Toss the fruit in coconut sugar and set aside

Combine quinoa and coconut milk in a pot and cook over medium heat until the quinoa is creamy and heated through, about 5 minutes

Stir in the mashed banana and continue to cook for a few more minutes before removing from heat

Divide the quinoa porridge into 3 bowls and top with caramelized fruit

For the caramelized fruit topping:

While the quinoa is heating up, warm the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat and place the fruit and sugar mixture into the skillet

Cook, flipping occasionally until all fruit is brown on either side. The grapefruit might fall apart but don't worry, it'll still be delicious

Notes

If you're starting with uncooked quinoa cook ½ cup dry quinoa according to package directions (usually simmer with 1 cups water until tender)Can sub mashed banana for other sweetener of choiceFor a less indulgent breakfast, reduce or skip the oil and sugar when in the caramelized fruit

Oooooh I LOVE breakfast quinoa – I actually prefer breakfast quinoa to cooked oatmeal. Does that make me weird? Can we still be friends? I love the coconut and the caramelized fruit!Les @ The Balanced Berry recently posted…10 Healthy Summer BBQ Recipes

Hi Dee! I don’t usually count calories but you’re right, this is definitely overly indulgent written as is. Looking back on my notes, it seems the serving sizes got lost in translation. The quinoa itself serves 6 (1/2 cup per serving) while the topping serves 3. I’ve updated the recipe with the proper amounts for 3 servings so thanks for pointing that out! If you’re looking to cut down further, I’d suggest reducing the oil and sugar when caramelizing the fruit or skipping them altogether. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions 😊

[…] to incorporate it into a sweet recipe somehow. My first thought was oatmeal but I just shared this quinoa porridge recipe a couple weeks ago, so naturally, the next step was donuts. Kidding. Obviously there were […]